{"id":507359,"date":"2026-07-26T08:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T06:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=507359"},"modified":"2026-07-26T08:34:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T06:34:51","slug":"lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LeBron James\u2019 decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers may have also been influenced by the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 recent roster moves. According to ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst, the arrival of James Harden in Cleveland was not a decisive factor by itself, but rather the player the Cavaliers had to give up to acquire the former Clippers star.<\/p>\n<p>Cleveland acquired Harden in February by sending away Darius Garland, a point guard represented by the same agency as LeBron, Klutch Sports, and a player with whom the four-time NBA champion has shared a strong relationship for several years.<\/p>\n<p>According to Windhorst, therefore, the issue was not Harden\u2019s presence on the Cavaliers\u2019 roster, but the fact that Cleveland no longer had Garland, a player with whom James had a strong personal and professional connection.<\/p>\n<p>A detail that may have further reduced LeBron\u2019s interest in a potential return to Cleveland, ultimately pushing him toward Philadelphia, where he will have the chance to compete for a championship alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":372530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399],"tags":[],"rumors":[175],"typology":[183],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-507359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","rumors-nba-rumors","typology-rumors"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation - Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T06:34:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alessandro di Bari\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Sportando\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Sportando\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alessandro di Bari\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alessandro di Bari\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5617a0cdb9f7a8abb15103f627c0f1ed\"},\"headline\":\"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T06:34:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":183,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/\",\"name\":\"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation - Sportando\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T06:34:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Cleveland Cavaliers\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sportando\",\"description\":\"Risultati di basket, notizie di pallacanestro, classifiche, Basket mercato, statistiche, roster, rumors NBA e tanto altro sul mondo della Pallacanestro\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sportando\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/logo-pink.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/logo-pink.png\",\"width\":70,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Sportando\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Sportando\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Sportando\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/sportando\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5617a0cdb9f7a8abb15103f627c0f1ed\",\"name\":\"Alessandro di Bari\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8622ed9b5b1d3b4b7fd4b28fee8d270ca181202e59f7085c92a9db4c64e7e215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8622ed9b5b1d3b4b7fd4b28fee8d270ca181202e59f7085c92a9db4c64e7e215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8622ed9b5b1d3b4b7fd4b28fee8d270ca181202e59f7085c92a9db4c64e7e215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alessandro di Bari\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/author\\\/alessandrodibari\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation - Sportando","description":"According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation - Sportando","og_description":"According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.","og_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/","og_site_name":"Sportando","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sportando","article_published_time":"2026-07-26T06:34:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alessandro di Bari","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Sportando","twitter_site":"@Sportando","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alessandro di Bari","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/"},"author":{"name":"Alessandro di Bari","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/person\/5617a0cdb9f7a8abb15103f627c0f1ed"},"headline":"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation","datePublished":"2026-07-26T06:34:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/"},"wordCount":183,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg","articleSection":["NBA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/","name":"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation - Sportando","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-26T06:34:51+00:00","description":"According to Brian Windhorst, LeBron\u2019s decision was not influenced by Harden\u2019s presence in Cleveland, but rather by Garland\u2019s absence.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Cleveland Cavaliers"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lebron-james-failed-return-to-cleveland-linked-to-the-garland-harden-situation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"LeBron James\u2019 failed return to Cleveland linked to the Garland-Harden situation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/","name":"Sportando","description":"Risultati di basket, notizie di pallacanestro, classifiche, Basket mercato, statistiche, roster, rumors NBA e tanto altro sul mondo della Pallacanestro","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#organization","name":"Sportando","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/07\/logo-pink.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/07\/logo-pink.png","width":70,"height":70,"caption":"Sportando"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sportando","https:\/\/x.com\/Sportando","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sportando"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/person\/5617a0cdb9f7a8abb15103f627c0f1ed","name":"Alessandro di Bari","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8622ed9b5b1d3b4b7fd4b28fee8d270ca181202e59f7085c92a9db4c64e7e215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8622ed9b5b1d3b4b7fd4b28fee8d270ca181202e59f7085c92a9db4c64e7e215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8622ed9b5b1d3b4b7fd4b28fee8d270ca181202e59f7085c92a9db4c64e7e215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alessandro di Bari"},"url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/author\/alessandrodibari\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Cleveland-Cavaliers.jpg","digistream_id":0,"digistream":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507359"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=507359"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=507359"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=507359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}